The last day at Neil Island....

Day 4: Neil Island

The days started early during our stay at the Andaman. The cool breeze and an amazing breakfast by the beach. Just what you would want on a holiday! The morning activities had almost become a routine - getting up early, having breakfast, then a walk by the beach and off to Bharatpur beach. We left for Bharatpur beach on our cycles around 10 am. Since the deep waters of Neil Islands are unexplored, we thought of doing snorkeling here. The snorkeling is done at Bharatpur beach at the rate of INR. 400 per person for a short distance and around INR. 600 for a long distance. We opted for the short distance one. So let me brief you on the snorkeling done here. A person comes with each one of you and they give you a buoy, mask and snorkel apparatus consisting of a tube. The buoy lets you float on the surface of water, in case you do not know swimming, the mask makes your vision under the surface of the water clear as without this your vision under water will be blur, the apparatus lets you breathe as your face is submerged under the water surface. Hence these are the necessary things for snorkeling.

So the activity starts by the person taking you until waist deep water and helping you get adjusted with the mask and the apparatus. You will be asked to wear the mask and the apparatus and then the buoy will be given and then you will be asked to float holding on to the buoy around you. Once you are comfortable, you will be taken for the final ride where you can find beautiful fishes and corals. Its a plus if you know swimming since you will be floating on the surface of water only for this activity. Also, the timings for snorkeling are such that they don't coincide with ferry timings. The fishes seen were butterfly fish, clown fish, clams, corals and many other different colorful fishes.

Trees near Lakshmanpur beach

We were done with this and still had some time left for lunch. Hence, we played around for a while in the waters and then headed back to the resort. The delicious lunch was served and then we headed towards the Lakshmanpur beach which is the beach on which the resort is located. We read some books, clicked some photos and it was time for the sunset walk. As usual we saw the last sunset of Neil island and were back at the resort.

Part of one of the uprooted trees

Kewda

Dead shells and coral parts on Lakshmanpur beach

 Throughout the stretch of Lakshmanpur beach, we saw huge trees or huge barks of trees lying on the sand. When inquired we got to know that these huge trees were uprooted during the tsunami of 2004! Also, you can see lots of dead shells on the beach and by lots I really mean lots of them. There is also one plant called as "Kewda" in the local language which is seen abundantly in Andaman and we were told that the fruit of this plant is used by the tribals! Neil island made us feel one with the nature with its serene beauty adn we hope to be back soon!